Learning how to write and talk about your massage practice is one of the biggest challenges for massage therapists. Most just want to do massage and don’t want to or think that they can create websites and marketing materials for their massage practice. The thing is that without doing some of these things to promote your massage practice, you won’t have any people to give those massages too! Marketing is just a very simple matter of telling people what you do and what massage can do so they can decide if it is for them.
One of the best things I have ever read on the whole topic of marketing is “Make Your Words Sell”. It is a free Ebook put out by Ken Evoy of Site build it! It is quite a long ebook but well worth the read. Every section I read I couldn’t wait to implement some of the things on my websites.
The biggest revelation I got from the ebook is about using the benefits of massage and learning to create a sales message from those benefits. OK you are cringing with the word sales in there… You don’t want to be a pushy sales person. You don’t have to be. Sales is just learning to get what you want and what you wand most likely is a massage practice that is booked solid for a few months in advance.
Here is a standard list of the benefits of massage taken from massagetherapy.com.
- Alleviate low-back pain and improve range of motion.
- Assist with shorter, easier labor for expectant mothers and shorten maternity hospital stays.
- Ease medication dependence.
- Enhance immunity by stimulating lymph flow—the body’s natural defense system.
- Exercise and stretch weak, tight, or atrophied muscles.
- Help athletes of any level prepare for, and recover from, strenuous workouts.
- Improve the condition of the body’s largest organ—the skin.
- Increase joint flexibility.
- Lessen depression and anxiety.
- Promote tissue regeneration, reducing scar tissue and stretch marks.
- Pump oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs, improving circulation.
- Reduce postsurgery adhesions and swelling.
- Reduce spasms and cramping.
- Relax and soften injured, tired, and overused muscles.
- Release endorphins—amino acids that work as the body’s natural painkiller.
- Relieve migraine pain.
Well their list of the benefits of massage is a little better than most but they still are not really getting to what the real benefits of massage are.
Let’s take them one by one:
“Alleviate low-back pain and improve range of motion”…… So What? Who cares? Why would anyone want to improve range of motion?
Only someone with low back pain would care about relieving it. Actually most people in pain use the reasoning…it will go away soon – or I am just getting old so I have to live with it. Not many people know anything about how the range of motion can influence back pain or even know why they need their rom improved. I would guess that many don’t even know that their rom is limited.
Why do people want to be out of pain? To be more productive. To be happier. To enjoy their families more.
That is the true benefit of reducing back pain and increasing the range of motion.
So when you get down to the real benefit of massage you can talk about that in your writing for your website, brochures and other marketing materials.
“Exercise and stretch weak, tight, or atrophied muscles.” So What???
What would it mean for them? Why would they want their muscles stretched or exercised?
The thing is you have to find out what the benefits of YOUR massage services are – not just these standard benefits. What makes your massage stand out from everyone elses? Why do people come to you in the first place.
You can read more about how to Make your words sell and to turn the benefits of massage into selling points for your massage practice.
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Hi Julie–
You are so right. Writing about something you’re so emotionally invested in (your practice) is tough. Writing about it so your clients “get it” takes patience and practice, but, oh, it pays off. If you start talking to the clients you want, those are the clients you’ll get.
Practice, practice. Ask “So what?” a lot.
By the way, I did just write an entry on writing website content if you’d like to take a gander: http://www.naturaltouchmarketing.com/blog/marketing-matters/2008/06/designing-writing-website-2/
Sincerely,
Eileen